Drill Teams

"Listen up and pay attention, Ladies First is on a mission." A mission to Louisville, Ky., that is. As the opening line in one of their dance routines suggests, the young women and men of the Pacoima Community Youth Culture Center's "Ladies First & II Hype" drill team are going places. For the second year in a row, the award-winning troupe will travel out of state this summer to compete in a tournament featuring some of the nation's best drill teams.

As the nation continued its military buildup for possible war in Iraq, a military competition of another kind took place in the Huntington State Beach parking lot Saturday. It was a breezy day replete with the usual contingent of bicyclists, inline skaters and sand hikers. A few yards away, however, the asphalt vibrated under the rhythmic thump of boots as more than 1,000 high school and college students went through their paces.

About 80 men in red jackets, white pants and black boots marched in unison before a crowd of both children and adults in Tustin on Monday morning. It was not a high school marching band or a pre-St. Patrick's Day parade but the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps. The nationally known, Washington-based marching band was making its annual stop at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station to perform for Marines as well as children from area day-care centers and schools.

Kay Teer Crawford, considered the mother of the all-American institution of the drill team, which livens up sports halftime shows and national celebrations, has died in her Redondo Beach home. Always cagey about revealing her age because "if they knew, they probably wouldn't hire me anymore," Crawford was believed to be 83. The retired Santa Monica College educator, who also taught at UCLA and USC, died Aug. 29 of cancer, said Gayla Wolf, who trained with her in 1954 and lives in Bakersfield.

It was a proud moment for the nine girls and one boy who make up the drill team at South Park Elementary School in South Los Angeles when they took home a first-place prize from Magic Mountain's fifth annual Elementary School Drill Team Competition. "I was so excited," said Kiana Garvin, 10, one of two co-captains of the team. "It was the first time I had won anything like that."

Charleen Brown got hooked on dancing at age 6, when she began to improvise tap routines. The self-taught hoofer is now a proud member of the Ladies First & II Hype Dance, Drill and Gospel Team at Pacoima Community Youth Culture Center, where she'll spend the summer perfecting her high kicks with the award-winning team. Unlike her teammates, Charleen, who is deaf, can stay in sync without hearing the music. "I feel the vibes," Charleen said through an interpreter.

The San Fernando High School Marching Band and Drill Team won its 10th consecutive city championship last week. The Tigers' victory in Division I entitles the school to continue displaying the city championship banner next year at all games, parades and other performances, said Don Doyle, a music advisor for the Los Angeles Unified School District. "They are a small band but they are a powerful group," said Doyle. "Musically, they were superior.

There were many signs that the young women from Huntington Beach High School were a hit during a recent international drill team competition in Nagoya, Japan. The audience in the huge indoor sports arena frequently broke into applause when the Oiler Drill Team performed its snappy routines. Nonetheless, winning the top award in the competition came as a surprise to the 32 young women on the team.

The Huntington Beach High School girls' drill team has wowed judges at competitions during the past six months, including an outing last week that has earned it a ticket to take the show overseas this summer. The 43-member squad will perform today in the USA Nationals at Cypress College. It will be the team's first appearance since winning the large drill team division title at last Saturday's prestigious Miss Drill Team USA.

Even the weather was in perfect step as the U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps and Silent Drill Platoon demonstrated their precision marching and rifle-handling skills Monday at an annual performance in Orange County. Several thousand spectators, including hundreds of schoolchildren, gathered under a bright blue sky at the Tustin Marine Corps Helicopter Air Station to watch the elite military units perform the "Battle Color Ceremony."

Doo Dah Parade watchers, rejoice: The leather is back. After a six-year hiatus, the Synchronized Marching Briefcase Drill Team has been resurrected for the 24th annual display of irreverence, which will take place Sunday in Pasadena. The valise-toting team of bankers, lawyers, management consultants and at-home moms was one of the parade's most popular acts until unruly crowds drove it away six years ago.

Susana Bruce, 17, whistled, and legions of teens and children on horseback followed her into the arena. Audience members clapped when they heard the "Mission Impossible" theme song in the background. There was no going back, Bruce sensed. It was time for perfection. "It's like ballet, but with horses," she said. "We cannot make one single mistake. Everything has to be perfect."

How does a 100-pound kid control a 1,000-pound animal? The answer comes Saturday when members of the Blue Shadows Mounted Drill Team perform to music and execute U.S. Cavalry-style drills in its 34th annual Regimental Horse Show at Sylmar's Stetson Ranch. Formed in 1957, the drill team uses military formations to teach children leadership skills, teamwork and horsemanship.

Redondo Union High School on Saturday will host a Reserve Officers' Training Corps National Drill Team Competition, featuring 24 schools from California and Nevada. Competition among the 116 drill teams will anchor day-long festivities open to the public. During opening ceremonies, the U.S. Marine Corps will stage a flyover of F-18 Hornet fighter planes. Military equipment, including two T-72 tanks captured during Operation Desert Storm, will be on display throughout the day.

Bettye Moore made sure the girls practiced their steps every day for four months. Sometimes she had to prod them. Saturday morning all that work paid off as 30 girls--members of the San Fernando Gardens Project Drill Team--marched and danced along Van Nuys Boulevard as part of the Pacoima Christmas Parade. Even after reaching the end of the route at the David M. Gonzalez Recreation Center, the girls continued dancing to the sound of Will Smith's "Wild Wild West" blaring from their boombox.

Teacher Luis Lopez was reading "Charlotte's Web" to his students Tuesday when the emergency bell sounded. "Drop!" Lopez ordered the fifth-graders, who immediately crouched under their desks, holding the backs of their necks with one hand and clutching the desk legs with the other. A routine day at Victory Boulevard Elementary School in North Hollywood was interrupted by a scenario involving the aftermath of a 7.8 earthquake.

To the strains of spirited music, the young women marched flawlessly in the early morning sun. Their feet stamped to the cadence, their heads pivoted im military unison. Their voices sounded out: "H.B.! H.B.! H.B.!" School had long been out for the summer break. But not for these young women of the Huntington Beach High School Drill Team. On this day they were practicing relentlessly at the high school, as they have throughout the summer.

Doo Dah Parade watchers, rejoice: The leather is back. After a six-year hiatus, the Synchronized Marching Briefcase Drill Team has been resurrected for the 24th annual display of irreverence, which will take place Sunday in Pasadena. The valise-toting team of bankers, lawyers, management consultants and at-home moms was one of the parade's most popular acts until unruly crowds drove it away six years ago.

Drill teams from seven Valley area elementary schools were among the top performers at the 7th annual Six Flags Magic Mountain Elementary Drill Team competition. Pomelo Drive Elementary School in West Hills placed first in the large dance category and won the sweepstakes award, given to the best squad competing with 15or more girls.

Two Capistrano Valley High School students returned to school Tuesday after a three-week suspension by the school district, which is moving to expel them for drinking rum on a spring-break trip to Europe with the school band and drill team. Orange County Superior Court Judge William F. McDonald ordered the girls reinstated on Monday, pending the outcome of a May 20 hearing. Despite that, the Capistrano Unified School District plans to continue expulsion proceedings, said Supt. James A.